Polson Pirates football get ready for showdown with Dillon

One question the Polson Pirates haven’t had to answer in the last three years is who their signal caller at quarterback is going to be.

For the last three seasons the Pirates have known that Tanner Wilson was going to be the starting quarterback. Wilson, along with his teammate Matthew Rensvold, became the first-ever Pirate football players to sign with the University of Montana Grizzlies since Kirk Murphy in 1987. Murphy played with the U of M from 1987 to 1991.

At this point it looks as though the Pirates are leaning towards choosing a signal-caller when Polson will play its season-opening game Sept. 1 against Dillon. Bo Kelley, the son of Pirates’ basketball coach Randy Kelley, appears to be the direction they are headed as they get closer to the season-opening game against Dillon. Though it appears the Pirates are leaning in Kelley’s direction, Colby Soderquist will get meaningful snaps in the first game.

“We’ve been spoiled because (for the most part) Tanner took all of the meaningful snaps and any real reps,” Danley said. “I feel more than competent this year that we will have a strong backup (to our starter).”

Danley said the initial decision to name the starter is “tough” because he and candidate Colby Soderquist were close.

“It was a hard decision to make and they both worked very hard over the course of the summer,” Danley said. “Both players are athletes and (the decision) was very tough. That is why this week we split the reps down the middle 50-50. However, I feel comfortable that we can run our full offense with Colby. He will get some reps in the Dillon game because he deserves it.”

One area Danley said he is “pleased” with is the depth his team will have on the offensive and defensive line.

The Pirates will have Colton Cote, Kyle Druyvestein and Koby Garcia as a three-man running back rotation.

At wide out, the Pirates will have Haden Smith and Shade Main to throw to in their predominantly run-oriented offense.

“Main is a big target and a really nice addition to our team,” Danley said. “He hasn’t played since freshman year and he will really help us at wide receiver.”

The Pirates defensive line will include players like Noah Humphrey and Treylon Mitchell, who will also be helping on the offensive side of the ball. hey will see significant minutes on both sides of the football.

Starting at linebacker will be Andrey Bauer, Hunter Fritsch, and Druyvestein.

“We have two good guys at inside linebacker and Kyle will be a great outside linebacker,” Danley said. “That is one place that we have a lot of depth. We have several guys competing for a spot to back Kyle at one of the linebacker positions.”

At defensive back they will have Koby Garcia and Parker Toth.

“Garcia will be our only defensive backfield and we have a lot of younger defensive backs,” Danley said. “Garcia is a really strong player. He had a touchdown-saving tackle and later he would have a goal line stand (in the game against Butte Central).”

This year the Pirates have brought over soccer kicker Conner Lanier from the Pirates’ soccer team and he will join punter Colton Cote.

“We are really excited about having Connor Lanier,” Danley said. “He is just a really great kid.”

Lanier should give the Pirates more flexibility to score inside the red zone this season.

“We are going to continue to push them and we will have a couple of more (two-a-day practices),” Danley said. “When we play Dillon in week one, it’ll be their first game. So we will be even. There is a big difference between weeks one and two because teams have had time to adjust.”